A TWO-YEAR-OLD plan to create a lasting landmark in Kendal to celebrate the Queen’s Golden Jubilee has been scrapped this week.

Kendal Town councillors voted to bin their vision for an artistic timeline along the banks of the River Kent telling the story of the universe in slate.

“It’s time to call time on the timeline,” said Coun Simon Butterfield. “As far as I’m concerned the money could be spent in better ways.” The time trail idea emerged after townsfolk were invited to brainstorm ideas for celebrating the Queen’s half-century on the throne in August 2001.

Ken Johnston, a carpet designer with Goodacres of Kendal, came up with the design to have engraved slate cubes set along the riverside between Miller Bridge and Nether Bridge depicting momentous events from the big bang, through the age of the dinosaurs to the end of it all in as estimated 40,000 years when our sun is set to explode.

But the time-trail plan stumbled in September 2002 when South Lakeland planners rejected it as out of keeping with the Conservation Area and the late Dr John Satchell of Kendal Civic Society described the proposed dinosaur footprint as having “Disneyland associations”.

Outraged town councillors resolved to appeal but eventually resubmitted a revised proposal for a truncated timeline avoiding the historic parish church and Abbot Hall – a plan that was approved by SLDC in March this year.

The scheme was all set to go ahead until this week when an updated quote came in at £16,800. This was up around £6,500 on the anticipated cost after Mr Johnson did some “fine tuning of his thoughts on shape and text”.

Coun David Birkett, who was mayor when the project began, argued that, given the escalating cost and the delays, he felt it was possibly better to drop the scheme rather than present the town council’s jubilee project three years late. The revised plan had moved away from the original idea, argued Coun Graham Vincent, who had imagined the time trail including Abbot Hall and developing as a bigger sculpture trail.

“We would be vilified in press and public were we to go ahead with this as stated without any prospect of it developing further.” But he pressed the council not to turn away from public art projects that would always be controversial.

“We should look to do something to add a bit of sparkle to the town because it is sadly lacking in art work,” he added.

Coun Paul Braithwaite tried to persuade councillors to finish what they had started.

“We say we want more public art, we want the town to sparkle and you have a chance to do it, a chance we voted on three years ago. We should stick with the decision. If we have a problem with the cost deal with that but we shouldn’t just throw it out because it’s convenient.” His stance was backed by Coun Paul Little but councillors eventually voted 9-4 to scrap the plan and write to thank the artist for his “valued work”.

Speaking to the Gazette on the day after the meeting, the artist was philosophical about the council’s u-turn.

“Professional designers just have to put up with that, it happens every day,” said Mr Johnson. “I thought the timeline would have been great for children and I think probably the children of Kendal have lost out.

“It is a good idea. If Kendal doesn’t want it someone else might. I will take it from there.”